Motor vehicle closure panels, such as rear compartment lids, are conventionally latched in the closed position by a latch assembly which is mounted on the compartment lid and has a fork bolt which engages with a striker rod mounted on the rear panel of the compartment. When the compartment lid is closed, the fork bolt pivots to a latched position engaging the striker rod to establish the closed position of the compartment lid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,186,476 by Alex C. Mair et al, issued Feb. 5, 1980, disclosed a method for the precise fitting of motor vehicle front end sheet metal in which the striker was precisely mounted on the vehicle hood with respect to the outer appearance surfaces of the hood and the latch was precisely located on the vehicle body with repect to the appearance surfaces of the vehicle body opening to be closed by the hood. Thus, when the hood was closed the striker and latch would cooperate to predictably position the hood at a precise height and transverse location which would precisely align and center the hood in the opening.
Heretofore the construction of the striker rod has comprised a bent striker rod which is welded to a mounting bracket. That mounting bracket is then welded in the center of the sheet metal panel which is to become the rear wall of the luggage compartment. Thus, after the vehicle body is welded together from the various sheet metal components, the striker rod is in place at the rear wall of the luggage compartment. Then the vehicle body is painted and the inside of the luggage compartment is treated with various spray dispensed sealers, sound deadeners, and paints to provide a water-tight and aesthetically pleasing luggage compartment.
Thus, a disadvantage of the conventional striker assembly is that the surface of the striker rod can be fouled by sealers, sound deadeners and paints so that the engagement thereof by the fork bolt of the latch assembly may not be consistently reliable and will chip away the paint. Another disadvantage is that the striker rod cannot be predictably located relative to the compartment lid opening so that the mounting position of the latch assembly on the compartment lid must be adjusted through trial and error to properly latch with the striker rod.
The present invention provides a new and improved striker assembly which facilitates accurate location on the rear wall and is also capable of final assembly subsequent to application of paint, sealers and sound deadeners so that the striker rod does not become fouled.